The importance and types of note taking for knowledge workers

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Note taking is a crucial activity for knowledge workers and should be defined as recording information on a durable written medium for future reference. There are three critical types of note taking systems that are essential for knowledge workers: a working memory extender, a reference system, and a project support system. The working memory extender is used to temporarily hold and expand the amount of information a person can remember during their workday. This can be in the form of a text file or any other medium. The reference system is a way to store and organize collected information for easy access and retrieval. Finally, the project support system is used to plan, track, and support the ongoing work on specific projects. These systems are vital for managing the influx of information and maintaining productivity in knowledge job roles.

One of the more important abilities to cultivate for the year ahead is comfort learning complicated (and therefore valuable) new things. In this episode, Cal tackles the myths surrounding mastery and presents a new mental model for internalizing non-trivial information. As he elaborates, there is both good news and bad news when it comes to this topic: you can learn almost anything, but you can’t learn everything.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

Deep Dive: Learning Hard Things [2:50]

- When it comes to taking notes, what really matters? [29:49]
- Can I fit all of my hobbies into my week? [36:02]
- Can YouTube teach me to be a better student? [39:40]
- How do I figure out what to learn next? [46:09]
- How do I learn something fast when I already have a busy schedule? [48:23]
- CALL: How does “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” relate to “Slow Productivity”? [55:11]

CASE STUDY: Slow Productivity affinity group [1:03:46]

The 5 books Cal read in December 2023 [1:13:28]

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Thanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, Kieron Rees for slow productivity music, and Mark Miles for mastering.